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No rBGH for me Please!

2008-03-03

A conversation with a co-worker has me all riled up!  I understand the skepticism some people have with the idea of going organic.  I am trying my best to not only educate myself but also the people around me.  It is important to me that we are informed so that we can make better choices concerning the health of our families.

I was in a conversation with a friend that I consider to be intelligent and reasonable.  He made a comment that has been bothering me greatly over the past few days.  His comment was that not only would he continue to eat meat injected with bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH & rBST, but he would purposely choose to purchase and consume it as well as feed it to his family.  I was shocked and disgusted, to say the least!  He made his point by saying that he has been eating beef injected with hormones and antibiotics all of his life and there is nothing wrong with him.  I find this attitude deplorable.

Here are some things you should know before you purchase you next steak, gallon of milk or other dairy products. 

1. rBGH & rBST was approved by the FDA in 1993 and was introduced into our food supply in 1994, so ... No Chuck, you have not been eating it all of your life.

2. rBGH makes cows sick. There are about 20 toxic effects, including mastitis.  rBGH milk is contaminated by pus, due to the mastitis commonly induced by rBGH, and antibiotics used to treat the mastitis.

3. rBGH milk is chemically and nutritionally different than natural milk. rBGH milk is contaminated with rBGH, traces of which are absorbed through the gut. rBGH milk is supercharged with high levels of a natural growth factor (IGF-1), which is readily absorbed through the gut. Excess levels of IGF-1 have been incriminated as a cause of breast, colon, and prostate cancers.
IGF-1 blocks natural defense mechanisms against early submicroscopic cancers.

4. rBGH injected into dairy cows causes problems such as mastitis or inflammation of the udder, joint problems, deformed offspring, and a decrease in lifespan of up to two years.

5. BGH milk was tested 90 days on 30 rats before it was approved. Dairy cows that are done giving milk make up about 17 percent of America's annual beef slaughter.

Let me ask these questions.  How can anyone think it is safe to consume food from an animal that is injected with a hormone that makes it sick?  What are the long term effects of consuming beef and dairy products treated with this chemical?  Are we really willing to offer up our children as the guinea pigs to test this drug for safety?  I, for one, am not.  I am opposed, completely to it's use in our food supply.

I urge everyone to stop buying products contaminated with Bovine Growth Hormone.  I especially urge those of you with small children to consider their health and choose hormone free food.  There are no laws that require the labeling of products containing rBGH, but many companies are labeling rBGH free products.  Please, choose these products to feed your families.  rBGH free products are not necessarily organic.  You may pay a bit more but isn't our health worth it?  Look for Tillamook, Darigold, Ben and Jerry's and Wilcox for your dairy needs.

Chuck, please have something valid to back up your argument next time.  It disappoints me to think that you would argue something you know nothing about.  I try not to push my opinions on others, but I am getting more and more passionate about what we put in our bodies and educating myself about it.  I don't want to become a preachy, granola eater but please, if you are going to criticize my lifestyle choices, have some valid points before you argue with me.

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